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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

Believe it or not, it’s time for the 30th quarterly “Beginners and Beyond” recital hosted by the Piano World Adult Beginners Forum! The recital will be posted some time on the 15th of May, which means that the submissions must be in by 9:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time, May 14. Please note this deadline is very firm; I cannot start working on the recital until it is closed, and once it is closed, no new entries can be added.

While any and all styles of music are welcome, we do ask that it be piano related. Only one recording may be submitted per forum member (although that recording may consist of a medley of two or more very short related pieces).

If you are fairly new to the piano, please do not be intimidated by some of the talent here in the ABF. We all consider ourselves to be beginners even though we may have been playing for some time. And, we LOVE to hear recordings from folks new to the keyboard. So even if you’re on your first Alfred’s method book, we would *really* enjoy hearing from you.

Recital submissions must be in MP3 format. The maximum size of the file is 20 MB. We recommend encoding the recording at 192 kbs with a constant bitrate, as that works best with the online streaming player. At that bitrate, a 20 MB file works out to be about 7 minutes in length. Your recording will be normalized when placed in the consolidated zip files, but your original link will still be available for those who want it.

If you are new to recording your music, there are several threads in the forum archives that address the ways and means. See the "Important Topics in the AB Forum" thread stickied at the top of the AB forum page. Audacity is an excellent free recording application that can be used.

If you are new to the forum and the recitals, I encourage you to browse through a few of the past recitals to see what they’re like. An easy way to find past recitals is to use Sam S.’s extremely helpful recital index, located here:

We will be using again the absolutely marvelous automatic web-based recital program that mahlzeit wrote for us. You will upload your mp3 file to the recital server as part of the recital submission process.

and follow the instructions there. Please note that this URL reflects our new permanent home for all the recital files. Once you have uploaded your info to the automated recital software, you will receive a confirmation e-mail. You will have the opportunity to revise your submission any time up until the deadline. If you have any problems at all using the new website, or if you do not receive a confirmation e-mail within a few hours, just PM me. If you have not participated in past recitals using this software, you may want to submit your recital piece at least a day in advance in case you run into any problems with it.

The recital website uses the following submission template to be filled out along with your attached music file. You may want to have your responses to these fields prepared in advance so all you have to do is cut and paste:

The due date for all submissions is 9:00 pm US EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME on May 14, 2013.

Did I mention that the 9:00 pm deadline was firm?

Think "consistency of concrete."

By submitting a piece to the recital, you are certifying that it is a recording of your own performance.

Again, the recital order will be presented in the order the pieces were received, so the sooner you send in your piece, the higher you will be on the list! You can revise your entries on the template (e.g., thoughts about your piece, adding YouTube links, and the like) any time and not lose your place in the recital queue, but if you resubmit your recording at any time, for any reason, you will be bumped to the end of the list.

Should anyone have any questions at all on what to do or how to do it, this is the place to ask. Remember, there are NO stupid questions, as we have a steady flow of new members in AB Forum for whom this is their first recital, so your questions will probably help to eliminate other members’ problems. Please ask away!

Let's all go out and brave that Red Dot and share a lot of beautiful music!

Not at all. The recitals are held on the 15th of February, May, August, and November. It's a regular schedule, and most of us choose and start preparing our recital pieces long before the submission. (I usually start the day after the previous recital!) The two week period is simply the time allotted for people to upload their recordings.

Not at all. The recitals are held on the 15th of February, May, August, and November. It's a regular schedule, and most of us choose and start preparing our recital pieces long before the submission. (I usually start the day after the previous recital!) The two week period is simply the time allotted for people to upload their recordings.

Ah, I see. I thought he had just announced that there would be a recital.

People who have been around the ABF know about the recitals and start preparing well in advance. People who haven't been around and are finding out about the recital for the first time now -- well, if they have something they'd like to share, go for it. And if they don't, they now know about the recitals and can start preparing for the next one.

Since this is the Beginners and Beyond Recital, we are happy to hear whatever people feel comfortable submitting as their recital piece, including very short and/or method book pieces.

There is a recital every 3 months, in February, May, August, and November. Usually the Recital submissions open on the first of the month, close on the 14th of the month and are available for listening on the 15th of the month.

Wow, that submissions page is quite busy right now! When I started to fill out the form, there was only one participant who had already uploaded his recording. By the time I was done, I was in at number 5 .

crap. I've been in over 10 recitals now, but I'm just not ready for this one. I started an Einaudi piece just a few days ago (Reverie) and am determined to make the deadline in two weeks. Meanwhile, there's no way I'm ready with the other stuff I've worked on. *sigh*

Whaa! Someone just submitted the exact same piece I did two slots after me. I am seriously scared right now. Maybe I should cancel my submission and put in something shorter and simpler. But it would either have to be one of the Burgmüllers, which I am guaranteed not to be able to play up to tempo, or my Grieg piece, which I've already promised to submit to the upcoming themed recital.

Hmmmm... the name of the Recital changed to Adult Beginners Forum "Beginner and Beyond" Online Recital...Is that a result of a loooooooong discussion about different skills, degrees, votes, etc? I gave up reading that post...

Of course there will be comparisons. People will just be too nice to say anything about the fact that one rendition of it is so much better than the other . But just because they keep their mouth shut, doesn't mean they're not thinking "oh, really? you call that recital-worthy?"

I was worried all along that I was aiming too high when I took on this piece. I've played it hundreds of times (no exaggeration), and it still isn't anywhere near perfect.

But now it's up there, and I don't really have any other option, short of learning the next 'mission impossible' piece on my list (Chopin, opus 34 n° 2) within the next two weeks. Which I could *maybe* pull off ... if I took two weeks off work and stopped eating, bathing, and generally keeping up appearances that I have a life outside playing the piano.

My piece is in terrible shape. How do you keep up with something that was beyond your level and you just barely mastered it. It seems to deteriorate so fast when the technique in it is too difficult for you. One day you can play it and after a while if you do not keep going back to the slow tempo it just becomes full or errors when you try to play it at tempo.

How do you keep up with something that was beyond your level and you just barely mastered it. It seems to deteriorate so fast when the technique in it is too difficult for you. One day you can play it and after a while if you do not keep going back to the slow tempo it just becomes full or errors when you try to play it at tempo.

Is detoriation rate related to how difficult the technique is? If it is, is it related to how difficult the technique is for you NOW or how difficult the technique was WHEN LEARNED?

I believe there is something different going on... (but not that that will immediately help you ;-) )

Hmmmm... the name of the Recital changed to Adult Beginners Forum "Beginner and Beyond" Online Recital...Is that a result of a loooooooong discussion about different skills, degrees, votes, etc? I gave up reading that post...

Sorry, for me is: "ABF Recital" aka "Piano World Recital"

Yeah... at some point in the long thread, there had been so much advocating for the "Beginner and Beyond" designation that I made a post calling for any dissension, which stated that unless people started arguing against the name, we'd make the switch. But the recital is still housed in AB forum, so that's why it's phrased the way it is. No doubt we will shortly have a new 8-page thread agonizing over the name....

How do you keep up with something that was beyond your level and you just barely mastered it. It seems to deteriorate so fast when the technique in it is too difficult for you. One day you can play it and after a while if you do not keep going back to the slow tempo it just becomes full or errors when you try to play it at tempo.

Is detoriation rate related to how difficult the technique is? If it is, is it related to how difficult the technique is for you NOW or how difficult the technique was WHEN LEARNED?

I believe there is something different going on... (but not that that will immediately help you ;-) )

But just because they keep their mouth shut, doesn't mean they're not thinking "oh, really? you call that recital-worthy?"

Well, even that will be better than the first time I played in one retirement home and the woman sitting next to the piano said, very loudly, "You call that music?!? Why don't you play something we know?" and similar things throughout the time I was playing. I was disconcerted

I must resist submitting my recording, hoping that I will get a better one tomorrow... but then I probably won't get a better one, so I might as well submit it now... but I should at least try... or not...

_________________________
Diana & Wally - Yamaha W110BWMartha Argerich... is an incarnation of the artistic metaphor of the "eternal feminine" that draws us upward. (Sergio Sablich)

I must resist submitting my recording, hoping that I will get a better one tomorrow... but then I probably won't get a better one, so I might as well submit it now... but I should at least try... or not...

Don't forget. You can always update your submission right up until Monica closes them on the night of the 14th. So there's no harm in submitting now. You do move "down" the list if you re-submit (but not if you just update the information).